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THE FRENCH BLUE. 129
was
once asked for this diamond was thirty thousand pounds (one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars) but we must confess for the above stated reason
that it might have been estimated at even a higher sum." There was a
precedent for estimating its value; but of that Mr. Hertz was ignorant.
The French Blue was valued at three millions of livres (six hundred
thousand dollars) when it weighed sixty-seven carats. According to this
calculation one hundred and fifty thousand dollars was not an excessive
price to put upon the Hope Blue of forty-four carats.
The
Hope Blue still remains in the possession of the family which has
given it that name, while the other fraction of the dissevered French
Blue is likewise in private hands. This is much to be regretted from
the historian's point of view, for famous diamonds acquire a great deal
of their value and all their interest from the persons who have owned
them. For a gem which has graced the royal festivities of Versailles as
the Blue Diamond has done, or enhanced the
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